12 GEOLOGICAL MEMOIRS. 



6. On the Geology of Istkia. By Dr. G. Stache. 



[Proc. Imp. Geol. Inst. Vienna, June 30, 1872.] 



The author proposes to regard the series of strata including the 

 " Cosina beds " as being intercalated between the uppermost Creta- 

 ceous and the oldest Tertiary (Nummulitic) deposits, and gives them 

 the name of the " Liburnian stage." He subdivides this stage into: — 

 1, Upper Foraminiferal Limestones ; 2, Cosina beds ; and, 3, Lower 

 Foraminiferal Limestones. Each subdivision is more or less deve- 

 loped, and sometimes even locally wanting ; but everywhere beds 

 characterized by the presence of Charce are to be found among them. 

 The Upper Foraminiferal limestone is marine, with intercalated 

 estuarine deposits. The Cosina beds contain Melaniidse and colonies 

 of terrestrial shells ; and the lowest subdivision consists in part of 

 lenticular aggregations of coal, filling up the troughs in the surface 

 of the cretaceous deposits ; and in parts where it lies regularly strati- 

 fied upon the latter, it contains intercalated beds rich in Foraminifera 

 similar to those which also occur in the upper Eudista-beds. The 

 upper horizons are connected with the Eocene deposits by the pre- 

 sence of Alveolince, and the first appearance of marine Gasteropods 

 andBivalves of genuine Eocene type. 



The Liburnian group marks the period when the bottom of the 

 Istrio-Dalmatian Cretaceous sea, after its first emergence above the 

 sea-level, was formed into a coast-region with many estuaries. The 

 period during which the lower portions of the emerged dry land were 

 again covered by the sea coincides with the highest development of 

 the Alveoline and Orbitolite faunas, and with the first appearance of 

 Nummulites. Some neighbouring regions, however, remained dry ; 

 and part of them have continued so uninterruptedly even to the 

 present time. The fauna and flora of the " Liburnian group " are 

 quite different from those of the newest Cretaceous or oldest Eocene 

 deposits in any other known region, furnishing a strong argument 

 in favour of its being regarded as a distinct stage, 



[Count M.] 



7. The Teetiakies o/ Messina and Gekace {Calabria). 

 By T. FucHs. 



[Proe. Imp. Acad. Vienna, June 20, 1872.] 



In this paper the author refers more especially to the system of 

 Coralline Limestones and white marls which constitute the " Terrain 

 Zancleen " of Seguenza, and are regarded by him as an independent 

 group of deposits intermediate between the Miocene and Pliocene. 

 The author considers that these beds form essentially a deep-sea 

 deposit coeval with the " Astian" subdivision. Like the Mediter- 

 ranean deposits of the Vienna Basin, the Miocenes of Messina are 

 divided into two horizons by a bed of clay ; and the distribution of 

 fossil shells in these two horizons is the same in the neighbourhood 

 of Messina and in the Vienna Basin. [Count M.] 



